NRL General Manager – Officiating Tony Archer has supported the decision of the NRL bunker to award a penalty try to the Sharks after Jayson Bukuya was impeded prior to touching down for a possible four-pointer on Saturday night.
As Bukuya went to ground the ball, it was ruled Warriors lock Simon Mannering had denied the Sharks forward a chance at scoring, with Archer detailing the elements of the incident that led to the decision of a penalty try.
"For a penalty try to be awarded, the review official or on-field official has to determine that the player would have scored a try other than for the act of foul play," Archer told NRL HQ.
"The circumstances that relate to this one, there are four indicators that support them making the decision of a penalty try.
"Bukuya is in front of Mannering when he is contacted, there is no other Warriors defender in the in-goal area where the ball goes to, Bukuya is tackled and then gets very close to grounding the ball. So in those circumstances, the situation is there is enough evidence for them to determine he would've scored the try, other than the actions from Mannering."
Many questioned the decision to award a penalty try instead of penalising Mannering and his Warriors side for a professional foul, but Archer claimed there is a difference between the Bukuya-Mannering challenge and other incidents in the 2016 season.
"On other occasions when the review official cannot determine that the player would've scored, those circumstances are what apply to a professional foul," Archer continued.
"I'm very confident they had enough evidence to award a penalty try on Saturday night."
